I loved the beginning of this book. Part 1 was entirely about Bess and the buildup to Bess finding out what happened to her missing daughter, and I was fascinated. I absolutely devoured it and couldn't look away. I love when a book grabs me so quickly and I really wanted to love the rest of it as much as the first hundred pages.

However, it kind of lost me when it changed perspective. It was Bess and Bess's story that drew me in, and when Alexandra started telling her story, my interest waned. It was obvious how she fit into the overall story, but I still didn't care. I loved Bess's fears and her character and her life. Alexandra was fine, but I struggled to care about her while caring about Bess was so easy. It was hard for me to get into the rest of the book even when we switched back to Bess. This is something I struggle with when it comes to multiple POV books sometimes. I just wasn't as interested in Alexandra and spent the whole time wishing to switch back to Bess.

This book seemed far too short for the story it was telling. My edition came in at under three hundred pages and there are two POV characters with two distinct stories. After about the two thirds mark, it felt incredibly rushed to me. Like it was all fascinating buildup, and then all of a sudden we skipped to the end and the drama in between got left behind. For example, there was a bit of romance in this book (not the main point, but still present). Two characters clearly have some kind of connection, but instead of building up that connection, it skips to their literal wedding after they share about three scenes. That's how the whole story felt for me. I needed more time with these characters and more time with the story itself.

It felt like the overall pacing was off. Bess doesn't even find out her daughter isn't at the hospital until fifty pages in, and then we change perspective about 80 pages in. It made this book feel like it was slow paced and introductory until all of a sudden everything happened at once and very quickly it was over.

I wasn't hugely fond of the ending. Perhaps it was just the pace of the book, but the characters basically went from screaming bloody murder to hugging like BFFs in a single conversation. I didn't really understand their motivations or sometimes what exactly was going on. Four pages were spent on what felt like needed thirty. I mostly just wanted more time.

I think with more time, and more exploration of the characters and the setting (which could have been fascinating but was largely a nonissue), I might have loved this book. It has the potential and given how much I enjoyed the beginning, Halls can write wonderfully well, but it fell short for me. It felt like this book only scraped the surface of what it could have been, which disappointed me more than the book itself.

*I read an uncorrected proof that I received for free with the intention of reviewing. I do not know how it differs from the final copy.*